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italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies Please see below the final call for papers for the Invisible Empires conference. INVISIBLE EMPIRES: ITALY and ECONOMIES of EXCHANGE Parliament Hall, St Andrews, Scotland 18th-19th June 2014 CONFIRMED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Barbara Spackman (University of California, Berkeley) Kate Lowe (Queen Mary, University of London) FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS At the end of the nineteenth century, Venetian glass-makers made many of the beads offered by Europeans to the inhabitants of the territories they were in the process of conquering. This lucrative trade thus implicated Italy in a colonial project which extended beyond discrete national boundaries. This small but resonant example of inter-national entanglement suggests the direction which this interdisciplinary two-day conference, to be hosted by the Italian Department at the University of St Andrews, aims to follow. What does it mean to participate in a colonial or imperial enterprise which is not easily identified as a national project? What does it mean for a national culture to inhabit the imperial discourse of another? How do cultures and people move in, and out, of empire? By attempting to identify instances in which Italy came to participate in colonial or imperial projects, sometimes but not always its own, we will work towards an understanding of metropolitan imperial culture as a formation which stretches beyond borders. We are particularly interested in imperial cultures or discourses of power which remain concealed, or at least unacknowledged. We are now inviting proposals for conference papers, not limited to but including the following topics: *Economic Imperialism: Networks of cultural and economic exchange; *Cultural and commercial markets: Visibility and distribution; *Desire and gender *Language and power *Imagining Empire in popular culture * Blackness and Whiteness * Traces and residues In order to facilitate discussion we envisage the main body of the conference to be composed of round table panels, where speakers will present brief position papers (15 minutes) allowing ample time for exchange. These sessions will be arranged according to theme rather than historical period, and will focus on the construction (as well as deconstruction/reconstruction) of exchanges and discourses of imperial influence and power. NB: Papers may relate to any historical period Please send a 200 word abstract and brief academic bio-bibliography to the attention of Derek Duncan and Emma Bond at [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> by 30th November 2013. Derek Duncan Professor of Italian School of Modern Languages University of St Andrews Buchanan Building Union Street St Andrews KY16 9PH +44 (0) 1334 463 668 [log in to unmask] ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: subscribe italian-studies YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe italian-studies to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/italian-studies